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Love Amazon Prime? Read on to see why your membership just got even better.
For many people, getting an Amazon Prime membership is an easy call. For $139 a year, you get access to perks like unlimited free two-day shipping on orders of any size and access to loads of streaming content, from music to movies to TV series.
Depending on the area you live in, you can argue that a Prime membership can pay for itself by virtue of savings on gas alone. If you’d normally spend $5 in gas to go back and forth from your closest big-box store, placing about 28 orders on Amazon per year allows you to break even on your $139 outlay. So if you commonly place three orders a month, you’re getting your money’s worth right there.
Meanwhile, Amazon is introducing yet another perk for Prime members that movie and TV fans in particular are apt to be thrilled with. So if you’ve been wondering whether your Prime membership makes sense to retain, you’ll want to consider this latest offering.
How do exclusive screenings sound to you?
Although the main draw of an Amazon Prime membership is often the free two-day shipping, for some people, the streaming content is a really nice perk. Amazon is taking that benefit a big step further by introducing Prime Premiere.
It’s a program that gives Prime members access to early in-person screenings of movies and TV series. Prime Premiere also includes access to photo opportunities at screening events, concessions, and special giveaways.
For each Prime Premiere event, members are allowed one entry. Event tickets are given out on a first come, first served basis. And because of this, it’s unclear as to how easy or difficult tickets will be to snag. It’s also worth noting that Prime Premiere events will only take place in select cities.
If you’re psyched about this new benefit, you should know that the next Prime Premiere event is set to take place in early September. And we can expect details on future events to be announced as the program rolls out.
Should you join Amazon Prime?
While the Prime Premiere program sounds cool in its own right, the reality is that you may not want to bear the cost of a membership for that perk alone. It’s hard to determine how easy or difficult it will be to snag tickets to early TV series and movie screenings. And it would be a shame to have to bear a $139 annual credit card charge for an option you don’t end up getting to take advantage of.
However, if the idea of free two-day shipping appeals to you, and you’re convinced it can help you save money by virtue of getting to make fewer trips to the store, then a Prime membership may be worth it. Plus, you do get the benefit of free streaming content included, among other perks.
If you’re on the fence about a Prime membership, sign up for a free 30-day trial and see how it goes. You can always cancel after a month if you feel that Prime ultimately won’t be worth paying for.
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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Maurie Backman has positions in Amazon.com. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.